Mariners’ first baseman Ryan Healy out for 4-6 weeks

PEORIA, Ariz. — Seattle Mariners first baseman Ryon Healy underwent surgery to remove a bone spur in his right hand and is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks.

Projected to start after he was acquired from Oakland in November, Healy was operated on Wednesday in Philadelphia by Dr. Randall W. Culp in a procedure called a metacarpal boss excision. The 26-year-old Healy hit .271 with 25 homers and 78 RBI for Oakland last season.

“We knew there was an issue there. Absolutely the best-case scenario came out of it,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said Thursday. “He’s shooting for probably even before the four weeks is up.”

Daniel Vogelbach and Mike Ford are expected to play first while Healy recovers. Vogelbach played 16 games in the majors with Seattle last season and hit .214 in 28 at-bats. Ford has yet to appear in the major leagues and was selected from the New York Yankees in the winter meeting draft.